You tap that wealth by selling the house. You don't just get to turn something that you get to continue using into cash for free. Somebody is taking the risk th

You tap that wealth by selling the house. You don't just get to turn something that you get to continue using into cash for free. Somebody is taking the risk that the value of the house is going down. And anyway, usually interest on refis are lower than what you can get prudently investing the money.